Document tailoring or new document creation utilizing a master document as a basis has up to now been a batch, cut and paste, etc., type of editing operation. An operator using an application driven device controlled display standalone, or host connected, computer work station or system today can cause the master document to be loaded into memory from a disk, and begin displaying and scroll through the document. Undesired portions can be deleted and desired portions can be edited. On paper, this sounds simple and straightforward. However, much attention, time, and keying are required. A single character can be deleted with very few keystrokes, but paragraphs must be cursored and bracketed prior to deletion.
To aid in document tailoring, split screen facilities or application programs are available for viewing and comparing various portions of the master document in a side-by-side manner. In using these facilities, one can, for example, create two view ports and cause one portion to be displayed on the top half of a display screen and a different portion to be displayed on the bottom half of the screen. Side by side viewing is also possible. In addition, capabilities have been provided to further divide the screen. Commonly, on the first division the screen is divided into halves, on the second division the screen is divided into fourths, etc.
In recent times, windowing systems or applications have become popular. Different portions of a document can be reviewed and compared, but separate windows must be created. Creating separate windows requires operator time, effort, and attention. In addition, to meet as many operator wants or needs as possible, users have increased the applications' capability to the extent that windows can be increased or decreased in size. This can be for purposes of either magnification or increasing the size of the portion of the document being viewed.
Whether using standard editing approaches, split screens, or windowing applications, absent has been a flexible and user friendly interface for readily creating a tailored document.
From the above, a tailored document can be created. However, clear deficiencies exist, and these deficiencies cause the prior art to fall short of either anticipating the instant invention or rendering the instant invention obvious. More specifically, the instant invention presents an advance over prior art systems, applications, and techniques in that an operator can readily select various portions of a master document and build a document for a specialized need. Building is from a plurality of windowed portions of the master document displayed on a screen at the same time. Each window provides a view port into a portion of the master document and the portion can be scrolled in the window to select what is to be included in the tailored document The windows are system generated and are used to automatically bracket information or data which an operator desires to be included in the tailored document. The advantages of this advance are reduced operator attention, keying, and confusion.